Related papers: Open string instantons and relative stable morphis…
We consider the real topological string on certain non-compact toric Calabi-Yau three-folds X, in its physical realization describing an orientifold of type IIA on X with an O4-plane and a single D4-brane stuck on top. The orientifold can…
In this thesis we probe various interactions between toric geometry and string theory. First, the notion of a top was introduced by Candelas and Font as a useful tool to investigate string dualities. These objects torically encode the local…
We investigate the physical and mathematical structure of a new class of geometric transitions proposed by Aganagic and Vafa. The distinctive aspect of these transitions is the presence of open string instanton corrections to Chern-Simons…
Amplitudes in open topological string theory may be described completely by certain A-infinity-categories. We detail a general construction of all cyclic minimal models for a given A-infinity-algebra and apply this result to the case of N=2…
We give evidence that the all genus amplitudes of topological string theory on compact elliptically fibered Calabi-Yau manifolds can be written in terms of meromorphic Jacobi forms whose weight grows linearly and whose index grows…
Electromagnetic plane waves provide examples of time-dependent open string backgrounds free of $\alpha'$ corrections. The solvable case of open strings in a quadrupolar wave front, analogous to pp-waves for closed strings, is discussed. In…
We give a systematic derivation of the consistency conditions which constrain open-closed disk amplitudes of topological strings. They include the A-infinity relations (which generalize associativity of the boundary product of topological…
In this paper, we explicitly construct string theory backgrounds that realise the so-called $\mathcal N=2^\star$ gauge theory. We prove the consistency of our models by calculating their partition function and obtaining the correct gauge…
In these lectures, we review the main properties of the topological theory obtained by twisting the N=2 two-dimensional superconformal algebra, associated to supersymmetric string compactifications. In particular, we describe a set of…
We use the exact instanton expansion to illustrate various string characteristics of noncommutative gauge theory in two dimensions. We analyse the spectrum of the model and present some evidence in favour of Hagedorn and fractal behaviours.…
This is a review. Comments are welcome. The observation that the structure of string theory is rich enough to include the standard model in rough outline is an old one, starting with the early constructions of free field constructions,…
We examine the $L^2$-topology of the gauge orbits over a closed Riemann surface. We prove a subtle local slice theorem based on the div-curl Lemma of harmonic analysis, and deduce local pathwise connectedness and local uniform…
We explain and illustrate how to compute string-loop amplitudes in Calabi-Yau orientifold compactification in the large volume limit with the help of the patch-by-patch description of string field theory. We compute the one-loop partition…
We interpret the A and B model topological strings on CP^{3|4} as equivalent to open N=2 string theory on spacetime with signature (2,2), when covariantized with respect to SO(2,2) and supersymmetrized a la Siegel. We propose that…
As of today there exist consistent, gauge-invariant string field theories describing all string theories: bosonic open and closed strings, open superstrings, heterotic strings and type II strings. The construction of these theories require…
Open topological string partition function on compact Calabi-Yau threefolds satisfies the extended holomorphic anomaly equation. By direct integration, we solve these equations and obtain partition functions for first several genus and…
The open topological string partition function in the background of a D-brane on a Calabi-Yau threefold specifies a state in the Hilbert space associated with the quantization of the underlying special geometry. This statement is a…
We construct supersymmetric $\mathrm{AdS}_4$ vacua of type IIB string theory in compactifications on orientifolds of Calabi-Yau threefold hypersurfaces. We first find explicit orientifolds and quantized fluxes for which the superpotential…
The $R^2 F^{2g-2}$ terms of Type IIA strings on Calabi-Yau 3-folds, which are given by the corresponding topological string amplitudes (a worldsheet instanton sum for all genera), are shown to have a simple M-theory interpretation. In…
The genus g free energies of matrix models can be promoted to modular invariant, non-holomorphic amplitudes which only depend on the geometry of the classical spectral curve. We show that these non-holomorphic amplitudes satisfy the…